The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1887-03-17
Letter from Aroostook.

Correspondence of the journal.
HoUIroN. March $. 1857. Friday mornings,
/ rs regularly as the mornings return. we are
| privileged to greet the Belfast Journal Other
| papers arrive by the same mail. but without
exception the pages of the journal are read
, before we turn our attention to these. Not
only do we read the local news. and the editor
ial department. but the comprehensive sum-
mary of state and general news; and some
times, but not always, the correspondence
Sometimes, too though we are 50 many miles
! distant. and should not be likely to avail our
! selves of the liberal offers extended. we read
| quite Il portion of the advertisements, n items
of news. So interesting is the Journal, that |
fear it occasionally beguilc> the writer to give
| time to its perlisal which ought to be devoted
to other pursuits. particularly as Friday is 50
near the end of the week when duty is impera-
tive and uncompromi>ing in its demands. The
Object for which ! took the pen in hand, how
ever, was not to write up the journal. but to
report these northern regions. our ,oiny> and
50 forth. this present winter.
TIE WEATHER
! is always an interesting topic of conversation.
| especially when we get such weather rs every
| body can talk about either because of it> be
Ing 50 beautiful or severe. We had IN
unusually pleasant fall. Scarcely any mud
but little rain, and roads in excellent condition.
1t was pleasure to drive anywhere. Since
the beginning of winter, however. We have
! had Wcathcr.-yc>, weather enough to satisfy
the taste of the most fa>toiou>. snow has
fallen in larger or smaller quantities on seven
| cghths of the DAYS. Fortunately. however. we
have bad cnou@h rain with most of the heavy
| storms to form crust so aS to prevent the
! snow from flying. 1t lies therefore more
uniformly than usual over the fields and along.
| the roads. From four to five feet of snow on
alevcl is to be found everywhere in thi, vicinity.
! The roads for Tie most part are full an, some
of them, owing to the frequency of the storms
ana the limited amount of travel. are difficult
| to travel, and a few almost impa~sahlc except
with horses which have been trained to these
narrow road, from the bcginnin. of their life
\ word of explanation may he necessary at
this point for the cnlig lightcnment of such as
have never travelled as far north rs to require
the use of
a SET UNiR" TO 4 SLEIGH.
Most of the travelling and tramn. being
done by two horse teams Il regular track is
! made in the road where the horses travel. 50
that to accommodate Il single team y special
arrangement is put on to the sleigh or sled
called Il ">ct over." by means Of Which one of
the runners of the sleigh follows the horse
directly while the other is set over to run in
the other track. The result is only Il portion
of the road, that on which the horses travel.
just wide enough for the horses feet is tro,lcn,
the sides and middle of the road are soft and
treachcrou> to Il horse unaccu>tcmcd to such
tracks in season such as this. with 50 great Il
quantity of snow.
There are. however. many compen>atinS al
yantayc> We have no ice to render ''crcrl,-
er>' necessary. no bare ground over which the
runners drag heavily, or TO make it Unnecessary to
resort to wheels in this cold weather: and with
the exception of the present winter. which has
been an exceptionally severe one. our winters
I here. for business or pleasure. are equal if not
superior 10 the winters Oh the shores of the
beautiful Pcnub-eot. \ change for the better
has taken place in the weather now, and the
indications are favorable for the Improvement
of our roads by the gradual settling rf the
SHOW.
TIE FAILURE OF TIE MARITIME BANk.
Walking into the store of L. Merritt X Sons
on Tuesday +. NJ. and goi- tIp to the ,lr>k to
ask for his account, the genial l.ookkocpev So
licitou>ly inquired whether your CORES pond-
ent had any bills on the "Maritiiiie" Bank in
forming him at the same time that the bank
had fa'cl \ hl>tN glance u, his poch. book
disclosed the presence of three i've dollar bills
two OF which h:uI been taken only on tile prev
ious afternoon. \ brief inquiry brought ont
the ft"t that several pi til, writer's personal
friends lad d,rlaa;ntancc~ hal precisely the
same amount OR hand. an incident due ~ the
fact that The bills of lli, M4ritiii' nanh were
in the denomination Of -. Others hal recent
lv had considerable amount On han'i, and
still others with considerable money ON hand
We're fortunate enough to lind that they Lad no
maritime money. At the present writing il i
too early to predict the outcome of the failure.
Fifty cents on a dollar was offered for the
money, but most preferred t" Keep their
amounts in anticipation Of better returns.
TIE BUSINESS OUTLOOK.
The prospect is perhaps fairly good. 'Wor,l-
ing Hail. Il new substantial building for the
Academy is 10 he erected the romin-, summer.
also Il new Catholic church. Then there is Il
prospect of Il new railroad to touch at lIoulton
village in the near future, with ro~>ill ly the
work shops at lIouton. New houses, too. are
going up all the time. With the advent OF the,
new line of railroad, furnishing Increased IA
cilitcs for The transportation of it, products
and the opening up II new lands. \roo~took
county is destined 10 groW in the future a.
rapidly is in the past.
SlND ~ ITEMS.
The school privileges of iIoullon are at least
| equal to those of any town of similar size, and
in advance of many The academy is filled to
is utmost capacity at the spring term. now in
progress, anl the teachers are working hard to
meet the demands made upon their encrgirs bv
so large Il number of scholars. An effort is al
50 being made to revive the lIolllton Library
Association. with the view of opcnin. Il pub
lie library and reading room Two meetings
have been held and the necessary committees
appointed for the furtherancc of this object.
People are literally provided with means of
entertainment in the shape Of concerts, lee
lures, theatres. etc. The skating rink has
| come and gone with 10 present indications of
returning. The toboggan slide. however. down
| the steep banks of the McduNnckeag and
across it, comes in for a fair share of patronage.
| As yet, however, we have heard of no death
or serious accident as a result of the diversion.
Two boys, members of the same family, took Il
| slide one day with he following result. The
| older had no desire to try it again; the Younger
| enjoyed it enough TO wish to go again.
| An act has passed the Legislature to provide
| sewerage in the town of TIoulton, and COM
| mittec of leading citizens have obtained the
charter W.
Deaf Mute Teachers.
To THE EDITOR OF THE JOURNALS: The
| communication i'll Il recent number of the
| journal, regarding deaf mute teachers from
this state, was accurate in all respects save in
| the omission of the name of the late Prof Fish
| er A. Spotiord of the town of Bucksport, Me.
! Mr.. Spotford, who was native of Buckspor,
| lost his hearing at the early age of - years.
l